Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The Elephant in the Room...

...I am wondering, when will it get addressed?

Let me explain: I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I know tons of HUGE Harry Potter fans. Sad to say, but we truly are pathetic. Our copies of books One through Six are tattered and dog-eared at best, because we've read through them about 30 times each. We frequent Harry Potter websites such as Mugglenet or The Leaky Cauldron or my personal favorite (which gleans the latest news from all of them) HPANA.And of course there's the mother of all Writer's websites, the website belonging to J.K. Rowling herself, which the more pitiable of us frequent, just to see if she's going to have another W.O.M.B.A.T. test any time soon. And if she is, what does it mean? And will she give us more clues about Book Seven? Will there be any more puzzles? Does that stupid moth that always lands on the keyboard have anything to do with anything?

*sigh* Such is the life of a Harry Potter Nut, or Potterhead.Now for the title of this post. I was looking at The Leaky Cauldron today (a few times--I check it whenever I get on the computer) to get my Harry Potter Headline Fix, and I was amazed at the sheer amount of information and work that goes into these websites. I mean, these sites are people's LIVES. Their livelihood. Harry Potter fans love these websites because there is still the Unknown factor, which is Book Seven. There are chatrooms upons chatrooms. Well-known professors are writing papers on theories about Harry Potter. And yes, they're serious. Scholastic is freaking out because after Book Seven, they are up a creek without a paddle (a.k.a Potter Replacement) and online casinos are taking odds on who is going to die in Book Seven. Not to mention the fact that J.K. Rowling is now richer than the Queen of England and who would ever have thunk that a poverty-stricken single mother could have ever started the juggernaut that is Harry Potter?

So, here's the obvious question: what happens AFTER Book Seven comes out, and all is revealed? What then? Everything will be canon and there will be no more theories, and discussions, and chat rooms, and speculation, and shippers...it will all be moot because the series will be over.What will happen to all these sites that people have made their careers? Will they become defunct, just like all the Star Wars Websites did after the last movie came out? With nothing to speculate about, nothing to look forward to, what is next for these people? Hence the Elephant in the Room. I'm sure these people don't really want to talk about it, think about it or address it, but they know it's there and they know it's inevitable. And it doesn't look too good for them.

I have a solution. J.K. Rowling should write at least five more books. Instead of making Book Seven the last, keep on writing! There's plenty of room for subplots to become main plots...the dance between Harry and Voldemort is good for at least three more books, in my opinion.But sadly, J.K. might pull an "Arthur Conan Doyle," and Harry will be falling to his death at the end of Book Seven amidst a burst of green light and a shout of Avada Kedavra!

I'd like to think she won't kill him off. Of course she is fond of reminding her fans that these are HER books and she will kill off whomever she likes, but I really think she'll make enemies if she kills off the one boy whom we've grown so attached to throughout the series.Then again, if she doesn't kill him off, she'll have fans begging for a sequel. Screaming for one. Granted, I won't be storming her Edinburgh mansion with torches and pitchforks to scream for a sequel, but I would definitely like to see more of Potter. Then all these websites that have sucked away so many man hours and dollars will stay alive...at least for a little while longer.

4 comments:

I think the websites will probably stay around. Granted, not ALL of them, but some of the bigger more popular ones. After all, Potter fans are born every day. I've personally NEVER read the books and only seen the first movie. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll get the urge and will pick it up and read the entire series from beginning to end and THEN want to get on the bandwagon and see what everyone else is saying and to see if what I thought was what everyone else though. You know? Plus, I'm sure they'll continue to make the movies as long as the actors want to do it. Right?

It's a dilemma. As a writer, I admire the fact she's stuck to her guns, and she wanted seven books and that's what she'll do in this series. How often have we seen a series go on too long? She's done something amazing with creating characters we love so much. Let's celebrate that and not get greedy.

But, of course, we are.

I think the fan fiction will continue. I didn't even realize it existed until I started reading the book Mercedes Lackey edited about the world of Harry Potter. Wow.

I think Rowling will take a break and then write something completely different. I think one of her biggest dilemmas will then be, does she write it under her name or use a pseudonym?

By the way, they can't make more movies after book Seven. Rowling sold the rights to THOSE BOOKS, not to the characters.